Maharashtra Home Minister Anil Deshmukh has resigned: NCP minister Nawab Malik

Maharashtra Home Minister Anil Deshmukh has resigned from his post hours after the Bombay High Court asked the Central Bureau of Investigation CBI to probe the corruption allegations levelled against him by former Mumbai Commissioner of Police Param Bir Singh a top Nationalist Congress Party NCP leader said here on MondaySoon after the high court directives Deshmukh met NCP President Sharad Pawar and offered to resign to ensure an impartial probe After the nod Deshmukh has gone to meet Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray to submit his resignation NCP National Spokesperson and Minority Affairs Minister Nawab Malik told mediapersonsMaharashtra Home Minister Anil Deshmukh submits resignation to Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray NCP sourcesfile photo httpstcoeCgxRuepwN pictwittercomSsfsFpXNbCmdash ANI ANI April 5 2021In a terse resignation letter addressed to the CM Deshmukh said In the wake of the HC ruling I feel it would be improper for me to continue in the post on ethical grounds Hence I have decided to voluntarily keep away from the post Kindly relieve me from this responsibilityThe fastpaced development came shortly after a division bench comprising Chief Justice Dipankar Datta and Justice G S Kulkarni directed the CBI to conduct a preliminary probe within 15 days into Singhs allegations against DeshmukhHowever the court said that the CBI need not register a First Information Report FIR immediately as the Maharashtra government has already set up a highlevel committee to probe the matterThe Government Resolution by the state government for a highlevel committee leads us to believe that there is no interference required said Chief Justice DattaFollowing the high court ruling a highlevel NCP emergency meeting was convened by Pawar in which Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar and other senior leaders were present to discuss the ramifications even as the Opposition Bharatiya Janata Party clamoured for Deshmukhs scalpSeveral BJP bigwigs including State party chief Chandrakant Patil Leaders of Opposition Devendra Fadnavis Council and Pravin Darekar Sudhir Mungantiwar and others welcomed Deshmukhs move to keep off the post to ensure an impartial probeThis is the second major setback for the ruling Maha Vikas Aghadi MVA in the past three months with a minister compelled to quit the cabinetOn Feb 28 Forest Minister Sanjay Rathod had quit amid a cloud over the death of a TikTok star Pooja Chavan 22 in Pune on Feb 7 after the BJP threatened to withdraw its members from a joint panel of the Shakti Bill and disrupt the legislature proceedings during the Budget Session in MarchThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever